Chocolate Letters for People Allergic to Chocolate

November 27, 2015 6:16 AM

'Tis the season for chocolate letters! Complication: my mom and my sister are allergic to chocolate. I want to make tasty Non-Chocolate Letters for them. What are my options? Open to ideas that involve baking, candy making, and more. CAROB HAS BEEN VETOED.

Bonus: pepernoten recipes welcome!

posted by heatherann to Food & Drink (21 answers total)

Best answer: I notice on your link that one of the options to make them out of is Speculaas/Speculoos. Since my personal belief is that everything should be made of Speculoos, that gets my vote.
posted by greenish at 6:28 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

White Chocolate? There isn't any cocoa in that.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 6:28 AM on November 27, 2015

Crushed hard candies can be placed in a (metal, heat-proof) cookie cutter and popped in the oven. You'll get perfectly shaped hard candies. Mix colors to get a pretty tie-dye or gradient effect.
posted by phunniemee at 6:31 AM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Not edible, but fun: http://somethingturquoise.com/2012/10/05/diy-personalized-alphabet-crayons/
(I've seen this same thing done with soap)
posted by nuclear_soup at 6:31 AM on November 27, 2015

Best answer: How about shortbread cut with cookie cutters into letters? There are tons of shortbread recipes online if this one doesn't look good to you, but I'm guessing the addition of the egg yolk makes the dough easier to roll and cut. Made with good quality butter and vanilla, and sprinkled with cinnamon/cardamom or five spice powder... I would bypass the chocolate letters for those! :)
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:33 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Gummi?
posted by Rock Steady at 6:38 AM on November 27, 2015

Are you located in the Netherlands? Jamin has letters made of sugar ("suikerlettertjes"), but they're sold out online. You can also sometimes find suikerlettertjes in grocery stores.
posted by neushoorn at 6:46 AM on November 27, 2015

Marzipan is traditional for the Sinterklaas season, and would be easy to mold into a letter (and even decorate spectacularly if you're into tiny edible sculpture, painting with food colouring etc.).

And how about fudge? Actually, a layered combination of marzipan and fudge could be awesome, too!
posted by sively at 7:00 AM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Gingerbread/ginger cookies.
posted by BibiRose at 7:02 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Dutch letter cookies! (Options 1, 2)
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:05 AM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I would make them out of praline, probably without nuts. This is my go-to recipe: Classic Southern Pralines.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:43 AM on November 27, 2015

If the mold or cookie cutters you were going to use for the letter shapes are metal, I bet peanut brittle would work nicely.
posted by solotoro at 8:06 AM on November 27, 2015

Halvah!
posted by bile and syntax at 8:26 AM on November 27, 2015

Cut out of fruit leather.
posted by asphericalcow at 8:41 AM on November 27, 2015

I'm under the impression that white chocolate contains cocoa butter but not cocoa solids, so your allergic reaction may vary.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 9:16 AM on November 27, 2015

Jello jigglers (recipe on box).
posted by sexyrobot at 10:27 AM on November 27, 2015

The article mentions that they were originally pastry letters. Also, that they made gingerbread letters during wartime chocolate shortages. A large letter made of soft, chewy gingerbread sounds yummy to me.
posted by bentley at 2:32 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Can you do this with peanut butter or butterscotch chips? We mix both together to make Easter candy and the flavor is delicious.
posted by Pearl928 at 3:46 PM on November 27, 2015

If you are dexterous, script letters or words from soft pretzels.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:55 PM on November 27, 2015

Response by poster: So many great ideas, thank you! I will begin experimenting this weekend. :)

Neushoorn, we are in Canada but thank you for the suggestion of suikerlettertjes!
posted by heatherann at 6:55 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Brazilians make all sorts of docinhos, aka sweet heaven made of condensed milk. The basic recipe goes:
1 can condensed milk
2 Tbs of butter
2 or more spoon of flavor of choice, such as coconut, crushed nuts, etc.

Cook in a pan, mixing constantly and scraping bottom of the pan. It's done when it seems to unstick from the sizzling bottom. Place on buttered dish into freezer or fridge until cool. Butter your hands and roll them into balls. Roll then in sprinkles or whatever you used to flavor them.
Delicious!
I recommend looking up YouTube videos to make sure you know what the right amount of cooking is. They're also called brigadeiro (chocolate version, but same technique), beijinhos (coconut).
posted by Neekee at 9:18 AM on November 28, 2015